Eelco's Darmah

Thanks for worrying. I've been working on a relatively long term contract where the goal posts kept moving, something that all contractors will understand. In an effort not to waste the good weather and maintain domestic harmony, when I got an unexpectedly quiet week, what started as painting a bargeboard turned into a new porch. Now, with an end in sight, I'm trying to get back actually inside the garage again, even though so far it has been taking things apart!. Thanks again, Martin
 
I took all the clutch and flywheel side off and looked very carefully at fit and wear patterns and so-on, before swapping a couple of shims and putting it back together. With the new 'Magic Bullet' in the clutch I can easily adjust the cable at each end to give lots of movement, even with the extended arm and no chance of it dropping-out. Without a standard one to compare I am speculating that the problem was caused by wear inside the 'hollow' of the actuating arm, which looks a little worn. I know that the pushrod was the right length because Vacant sent me a spare set and I mixed and matched to get the longest (even though it was only a matter of thou.) I had been considering asking Venhill to make up a smooth cable with one of those right-angle guides for the clutch end at the back of the motor to give a straighter pull around the rear pot but that can wait a bit. Gasket's here so now I need to seal off the starter-hole and put it all back.
 
haha - thanks. The door is the only plastic bit. I buttoned up the clutch side last night but the gearshift is now very tight so it's all coming back off again to see why! (On the Darmah, not the porch)
 
The stiff gear pedal turned out to be a shim that I made to ensure that the selector pawl meshed perfectly with the quadrant. Unfortunately that pushed the shaft out just enough for the outer cover to catch it and tighten up on it as the bolts went home. Whilst I had the cover off I noticed that part of the clutch cover forms a well just below where the starter drive cover sits. I drilled a hole to let the oil back down just in case, even though I guess when the bike is moving oil wont be held there for long.
Now I took off the starter solenoid and shortened the wires to the Rita. I pulled the plugs and kicked the motor over until I saw a spark. Quickly sticking the tank back on I tried a bitt of optimistic tickling and throttle-twisting then some kicking but didn't even get a fart. Now I'm going to go back and see if that spark is happening at the right time. Before that though, I appear to have volunteered to make a pirate ship tree-house (don't ask)
 
My selector pawl spacer fell off the bench and I carefully watched it... disappear. I had to make up another!

I couldn't believe I could watch something fall, carefully track it and still lose it. FX: Sigh...

I'll find it when we move house ;)

Good luck with the pirate ship tree house!
 
It's been a while but I finally got round to looking at the Darmah again. Since the insides of the tank had been attacked by the fuel, despite sealing, I decided to chop out the 'tank' bit so I can make another from steel or alloy and just use the tank-seat as a cover. It was fascinating to see the way the sealer had and hadn't worked in various areas, almost entirely due, I would say to my not having kept it rotating all the time. If I have to do it again I'll rig something up with a cement-mixer or 'mangle' stand. The 'edge' around the filler was attacked and the tunnel but almost everywhere else was sealed ok.
 
Once more into the breach

Hello again, after what turned into a long break during which I fitted a gifted Rita and using a temporary tank I got the Darmah to fire on one cylinder, I spotted some parts for sale on Facebook and shot down to Banbury (3 hours each way) to collect them. I got a Kickstart, gear lever, kickstand, squarecase engine outer cases, starter and two early cylinder heads, together with other assorted bits like a rubber battery tray and a couple of tins of nuts and bolts. It was such a nice day that when I got back I dragged out the carcass and set to work. I think that my issue appears to be both valve and ignition timing so I'm going back to basic and starting from scratch. I have set both cylinders so that the intake opens at the correct point before TDC and now I'm going to set the Rita up to match rather than follow the instructions, which appear to be backwards. With the head off I managed to measure the valves on my heads which are definitely oversize now I have the other heads to compare. I did wonder if the cams were different as well since they do seem to have more lift than normal but that might just be wishful thinking. I eventually ran out of daylight but might be able to get back into it tomorrow.
 
The horse has bolted now but just a thought, have you not checked if ther is a company that could make a fuel cell for the inside of fibreglass tanks?

Sam
 
fuel cell

Hi Sam, the horse hasn't bolted, it's sitting in my mates unit happily grazing on Tig fumes and swarf. The alloy inner tank which he is making is half complete and subject to regular trial fits. It will be fairly small compared to the 5-gallon original so I guess if I ever do get it going I'll be familiar with lots of filling stations. The next design challenge is to make a filler that clamps through the fibreglass and seals.
 
I'm going to try and upload a picture of the parts I bought. I see you are rebuilding a Darmah too. Sam, even earlier than mine, but probably the same vintage as the parts.. C:\Users\marti\OneDrive\Documents\Ducati pictures
Well, that didn't work I'll have another go.
 
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